THE MARRIAGE OF A
GRANDDAUGHTER*
Eleonora (Ellen) Wayles Randolph, the fourth child and third daughter of Gov. Thos. Mann Randolph of Edgehill and Martha Jefferson, was born at Monticello 30 October, 1700. She spent a happy childhood mostly at Monticello where she was brought up and educated under the eyes of her grandfather, Thos. Jefferson, with whom she was a great favorite, A letter from her to the Historian Randall gives a charming picture of the devotion with which, as a little girl, she followed him about the garden and terraces of Monticello -"From him seemed to flow all the pleasures of my life. To him I owed all the small blessings and joyful surprises of my childish and girlish years . . .When about 15 years old, I began to think of a watch but knew the state of my father's finances promised no such indulgence, One afternoon the letter bag was brought in. Among the letters was a small packet addressed to my grandfather . It had the Philadelphia mark on it. I looked at it with indifferent, incurious eye. Three hours after, an elegant lady's watch with chain and seals was in my hand, which trembled for very joy. My Bible came from him, my Shakespeare, my first writing table, my first handsome writing desk, my first Leghorn hat, my first silk dress. What in fact of all my small treasures did not come from him?" (Domestic Life of Thomas Jefferson, p, 345. )
To Monticello came in 1824 Joseph Coolidge, Jr., Harvard 1817, a young Bostonian well educated, well-to-do, and a traveller who wished to meet the octogenarian author of the Declaration of Independence. He was welcomed with the hospitality which was a Virginian custom, and while making the acquaintance of the Sage of Monticello made also that of a grand daughter, Eleonora, or as her family called her Ellen, Randolph who made a greater impression on his life than did her eminent grandfather.
Mr. Jefferson, who acted as a sort of guardian to Ellen, appears to have received most cordially this young man's intimation that he wished to marry her, and on October 24, 1824, wrote to Mr. Coolidge as follows:
"Dear Sir:
"I should not have delayed a single day the answer to your interesting and acceptable letter of the 13th inst, but that it found me suffering severely. ..; and avail myself of the first moment of my ability to take up a pen, to assure you that nothing could be more welcome to me than the visit proposed in your lre, or its object. During the stay you were so kind as to make with us, my opportunities were abundant of seeing and estimating the merit of your character, insomuch as to need no further enquiry from others. Nor did the family leave me uninformed of the attachment which seemed to be forming towards my granddaughter Ellen. I learnt it with pleasure, because, from what I believed of yours, and knew of her extraordinary moral qualifications, I was satisfied no tow minds could be formed, better compounded to make each other happy. I hold the same sentiment now that I receive the information from yourself, and assure you that no union cound give to me greater satisfaction, if your wishes prove mutual, and your friends consenting. What provision for a competent subsistence for you might exist, or be practicable, was a consideration for both parties. I knew the circumstances of her father, Gov. Randolph, offered little prospect from his resources, prostrated, as they have been by too much facility in engagements for others. Some suffering of the same kind myself, and of sensible amount, with debts of my own, remove to a distance anything I could do, and certainly should do for you. My property is such as that after a discharge of these incumbrances, a comfortable provision will remain for my unprovided grandchildren.
"This state of things on our part leaves us nothing to propose for the present, but to submit the course to be pursued entirely to your own discretion and the will of your friends; under the general assurance that whenever circumstances enable me to do anything, it will be directed by justice to the other members of my family, a special affection to this peculiarly valued granddaughter, and a cordial attachment to yourself. Your visit to Monticello, and at the time of your own convenience, will be truly welcome, and your stay, whatever may suit yourself under any views of friendship or connection. My gratification will be measured by the time of its continuance …"
On May 27, 1825, Joseph Coolidge and Ellen Randolph were married in the drawing-room at Monticello. Family tradition has it that the best man, Mr. Harrison Ritchie, who had come down from Boston with Mr. Coolidge and was staying with other guests at the house, had gone out for a morning fox hunt with several others on the day when the circuit preacher, who had been counted on to perform the ceremony, arrived most unexpectedly, saying that he had but a few hours to spare. The wedding, therefore, took place immediately, regardless of the absence of the best man and several of the company, who had been waiting days for the preacher to arrive.
The story of the extended wedding trip of the young couple which took them to Fredericksburg, Washington, New York (where they met General Lafayette on his way to Mr. Jefferson at Monticello), Lake Champlain, and down the Connecticut River to Springfield and Boston, is told at length in an article which can be found in the Atlantic Monthly for March 1929 under the tile of "An American Wedding Journey in 1825."
*Part of an article titled "The Jefferson Coolidges", prepared' for the 1932 Annual Report of the Monticello Association by its Historian, General Jefferson Randolph Kean, who acknowledged "the large assistance of Mr. Harold Jefferson Coolidge." See pages 10 through 17 of that Report.
